Meet the Trainers

The following are AAJA-Asia members trained by the Google News Initiative. Individual trainers have additional expertise for training in areas such as interactive graphics and data journalism, as well as tapping into digital resources in Asia and available US resources. They come from the various markets in Asia as we aim to expand the network.

Alice TRUONG (@alicetruong) is a deputy growth editor at Quartz based in Hong Kong, where she oversees the site’s international growth. She was previously the senior Silicon Valley correspondent for Quartz, and before that was a staff writer at the Wall Street Journal and Fast Company.

Andrew DAVIS (@abdroma) currently serves as a news trainer for the Asia Pacific region for Bloomberg News. As a trainer Andrew works with new and experienced journalists in the region to improve their writing, editing, social media and data journalism skills. Prior to joining the training team, Andrew ran Bloomberg’s political coverage in Asia. Andrew also served as bureau chief in both Rome and Madrid for Bloomberg.

Fai Ho SIU (John) (https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-siu-ba923514a/) is currently the head of HK01 data journalism team. He specializes in producing data-driven stories by applying data visualization and data mining technique. He also leads the team to create widgets, websites and mobile applications to make the information more comprehensive, interactive and engaging to the readers. He was awarded SOPA excellence in information graphics honorable mention in 2017 and was the winner of 2017 Global Editors Network Editors Lab at Taipei. Before joining HK01, he had worked at Ming Pao and Sing Tao Newspaper, covering Hong Kong local news.

Hannah DORMIDO (@hannahdormido) is a data visual journalist at Bloomberg News, where she covers global politics, economics, and science and technology from the company’s Asia headquarters in Hong Kong. Prior to joining Bloomberg, Ms Dormido led the editorial graphics team for the Financial Times in Asia as senior editor. She is an expert in mapping visual data using QGIS.

Jay HARTWELL (@jay_hartwell) has trained journalism students and professionals over 20 years in Hawaii, continental United States, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Japan, and lectured about media issues in Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea. As the lead adviser to student media programs at the University of Hawaii, he received a Fulbright Scholar Award and the College Media Association’s Distinguished Service Award. He is the author of “Na Mamo: Hawaiian People Today,” the 1996 Hawaii Book of the Year, and before that served for eight years as a reporter for Honolulu’s morning newspaper. He is the current President of the Hawaii Publishers Association.

K. Oanh HA (@oanhha) is president of the Asia chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association. She is an editor at Bloomberg, overseeing Asia coverage of consumer and health care news from Hong Kong. She joined the news organization in 2010 as Vietnam bureau chief. Before joining Bloomberg, she worked as a host and reporter for KQED Public Radio in San Francisco on its nationally-syndicated program, Pacific Time, examining connections between Asia, the US and Asian American issues. She also reported for the San Jose Mercury News, covering Asia Pacific affairs, technology and small businesses. She was born in Vietnam and grew up in California.

Kuang Keng KUEK SER (@kuangkeng) is an award-winning digital journalist based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He is the founder of DataN, a training program that lowers the barrier for newsrooms and journalists with limited resources to integrate data journalism into daily reporting. DataN has helped publications like Foreign Policy, BBC, Mediacorp, Malaysiakini and Sin Chew Daily to strengthen their storytelling with data, visual and interactive components. Besides conducting workshops and bootcamp for journalists, Keng also consults and produces data and interactive stories for media organizations including Minneapolis-based Public Radio International (PRI.org) and Kuala-Lumpur based Malaysiakini.

Mark ANGELES (https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-angeles-a287033/) has recently moved to Hong Kong to work as a sub-editor at the South China Morning Post. Prior to the SCMP, Mark lived for four years in Yangon, Myanmar, where he started the first English-language broadsheet newspaper, The Trade Times, and then worked as a senior editor for The Global New Light of Myanmar, the country’s oldest daily newspaper. He is originally from Washington, DC.

Selina CHENG (@selina_cheng) is an investigative reporter at HK01, a Chinese-language publication in Hong Kong. She previously reported for Quartz in New York. Selina investigated China’s most wanted millionaires who found asylum in the US, Harvey Weinstein’s business partner in Hong Kong, and the city’s largest Buddhist organization, where prominent monks embezzled millions in donation. Selina’s work has won honorable mention at the 2018 SOPA Award and a silver at the 2018 US Telly Awards.

Soe Htat KHAING began as a journalist at a sports journal in Yangon in 2005 December. Later he joined Eleven Media Group, one of the most influential media in Myanmar, as senior editor. After nine years at Eleven Media, he joined Channel K, which is broadcast in Burmese.

Trinna LEONG (@trinnaleong) is a Malaysia correspondent for The Straits Times after working at The Malaysian Insider and Reuters. A graduate of Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, she has covered the two Malaysia Airlines accidents in 2014, the assassination of Kim Jong Nam – elder sibling of North Korea’s leader – along with the ups and downs of Malaysian politics culminating in the 2018 election that saw a six-decade coalition toppled from power.

Youkyung LEE (@YKreports) is a government reporter covering North and South Korea for Bloomberg News. She is based in Seoul, South Korea. Previously, she was a technology and business reporter for the Associated Press for six years and an English news reporter for South Korea’s Yonhap News agency. She started her career as an intern for CFR.org in New York and then as a Special Correspondent for the Los Angeles Times in Seoul. She was a Freeman Asian scholar at Wesleyan University where she received a B.A. in English and French studies.

Yuri NAGANO (@yurinagano) is a digital journalist shuttling between Tokyo and California, who has reported for news organizations including the Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, International New York Times, Bloomberg BNA, The Economist and Public Radio International. She has been an investigative writer covering tech giants including Apple and Amazon for a Financial Times-related financial news service. She started her career as a staff TV producer for Japan’s public network NHK, where she won awards for her TV documentary and shows. Nagano has supported the AAJA-Asia chapter’s growth since 2010 as a board member; and she has served as the chapter’s co-president. When she’s unhooked from her gadgets, she likes to practice hot yoga, go hiking in the forest, or wander through art museums.

The Asia chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association is one of AAJA’s largest chapters with members from India and Nepal and across Southeast Asia to China, Japan and South Korea. For more, visit https://aaja-asia.org/